There exists an electronic apparatus such as a cell phone or a game machine that includes a stationary unit including, for example, operation keys, and a movable unit including, for example, a liquid crystal display, and configured to be slidable relative to the stationary unit. Such an electronic apparatus includes a sliding mechanism that allows the movable unit to be slid relative to the stationary unit.
A sliding mechanism used for such an electronic apparatus typically includes a spring unit. The sliding mechanism biases the movable unit toward a closing direction until the movable unit is moved by an operator to a predetermined position relative to the stationary unit, and biases the movable unit toward an opening direction after the movable unit is moved past the predetermined position. This configuration improves the operability of the electronic apparatus.
Springs with various structures can be used for the spring unit. Patent document 1, for example, discloses a spring unit including multiple wire springs. The spring unit disclosed by patent document 1 includes multiple (three) wire springs whose ends are connected via connecting parts to bodies of an electronic apparatus. Using wire springs for a spring unit makes it possible to reduce the thickness of an electronic apparatus.
As described above, a sliding mechanism provided in a cell phone or a game machine allows a movable unit to be slid relative to a stationary unit. Here, a feeling (which is hereafter referred to as “operational feeling”) that a user feels when sliding the movable unit greatly affects the usability of the cell phone or the game machine. For this reason, the spring characteristic of wire springs constituting a spring unit is changed for each variation of an apparatus or device to change its operational feeling (or flavor).